Papers by STAVROULA KIRITSI
D. Munteanu-LaCourse Tragic Pathos: Pity and Fear in Greek Philosophy and Tragedy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Pp. xiii + 278, illus. £60/$99. 9780521765107
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2013
eight chapters, each covering one or more plays by a single playwright, drawing attention to the ... more eight chapters, each covering one or more plays by a single playwright, drawing attention to the manner in which the oath is utilized. Often it is as a plot device, whereby the trajectory of the action is changed when the swearer becomes bound to do (or not to do) something in the future, something which he or she might not have otherwise undertaken to do. In addition to showing how an oath directs the plot, Fletcher also draws attention to the way in which several significant speech acts, especially oaths, oracles and curses, share in a particular religious register that gains performative authority through association with the gods as a communicative act between mortals and the divine: as such, these speech acts are themselves permeated with an authority that transcends everyday human speech. Most revealing in this regard is the way in which a curse often functions as the fulfilment of a previously sworn oath in several tragedies. However, it is in her analysis of the gendered nature of drama’s oaths that her findings are particularly enlightening. Sensitive to the fundamental opposition in Greek gender ideology between the active, creative and authoritative male and the passive, destructive and weak female, Fletcher identifies a correspondence between oath-swearing, the embodied masculine ideal of political agency and authoritative speech in drama. Amongst men, both in real life as in drama, oaths are used in a number of situations: in the creation of friendships (as between Theseus and Oedipus); in the formation of treaties and alliances (as between Athens and Orestes on behalf of the Argives); in the incorporation of a young man into a community of men (as the oaths sworn by Neoptolemus and Hyllus do in Sophocles); and in the creation and administration of laws (as in Oedipus Tyrannus). Each of these oaths, appropriately sworn between men, serves to support masculine hegemony over authoritative, political speech. However, as Fletcher demonstrates, because all oaths exert a supra-human authority in the mortal world, oaths sworn by women or at the behest of women pose a threat to that hegemony: through oaths, women’s speech (or their control of it) gains performative authority. Thus, in drama, women are frequently represented as more likely to extract from men (or to swear themselves) ill-formed or inappropriate oaths, as well as oaths in support of personal, vengeanceseeking retribution, rather than in support of civic 177
De Gruyter eBooks, Jun 7, 2022
, and especially Huan Yang. I am grateful too to the audience at the conference for their constru... more , and especially Huan Yang. I am grateful too to the audience at the conference for their constructive feedback. Finally, I wish to thank the Ephorate of Antiquities of Argolida, especially Nikos Katsaraios and Alkestis Papademetriou; the director of the modern Greek play Oedipus the King Konstantinos Markoulakis; the translator Yannis Lignadis; and the composer Minos Mastas, for granting me interviews concerning the modern Greek production of Oedipus the King, produced by the company Athenian Theatres (Aθηναϊκά Θέατρα) in the summer of 2019.
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2014
Plutarch's passionate admiration' for Menander in his Comparison of Aristophanes and Menander pro... more Plutarch's passionate admiration' for Menander in his Comparison of Aristophanes and Menander provides the framework for Nervegna's analysis of 'the social reception of Menander and his plays'. Plutarch provides evidence for the 'contexts', for the venues where an imperial Greek 'could expect to find Menander', such as theatres, symposia and classrooms (2). Nervegna argues convincingly that Menander was popular not only posthumously but also during his lifetime (a point anticipated by Ioannis Konstantakos, 'Rara coronato plausere theatra Menandro? Menander's success in his lifetime', QUCC 88 (2008) 79-106), outstripping even his rival Philemon (16, n.19). Chapter 1 treats Menander as a 'cultural icon' in three Hellenistic cities: Athens, Alexandria and Rome. His popularity in Athens is explained by his association with the Peripatetic school and connections with Athens' Macedonian overlords. Peripatetic influence is evident in Menander's recognition scenes, humour, subtlety and character types, though Nervegna presses too hard the idea that Menander's comedy represents a 'successful attempt to turn comedy into philosophical and ethical drama' (46); better to see his comedies as part of this larger intellectual environment. He wrote to entertain and educate his audiences, but his plays are not 'ethical' comedies. Nervegna sees Menander as 'an oligarchic pro-Macedonian' intellectual (17), against S. Lape (Reproducing Athens, Princeton 2004), who considers him a democrat. He was close to Demetrius of Phaleron, but that his beardlessness was a sign of Macedonian inclinations seems dubious. The relative absence of local political allusions may be a consequence less of his politics than, as Nervegna also notes, of the fact that his plays were often produced outside Athens. Menander was a favourite of Aristophanes of Byzantium and scholars in the Alexandrian library. Travelling actors also helped spread his reputation, as Pat Easterling has argued ('From repertoire to canon', in P. Easterling (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy, Cambridge 1997, 211-27). Velleius Paterculus, 'the first author to name New Comedy's champions' (Diphilus, Philemon and Menander), concluded that Menander was the star of the genre
4 Aristophanes, Education, and Performance in Modern Greece
The thesis explores the way in which character is represented in Menander's comedies and in the r... more The thesis explores the way in which character is represented in Menander's comedies and in the revival, translation, and reception of Menandrean comedy in the modern Greek theatre. Although modern translators and directors may have sought to reproduce the ancient dramas faithfully, they inevitably reshaped and reinterpreted them to conform to audience expectations and the new cultural context. Comparing aspects of character in Part I CHAPTER 1: The Conceptual World of Menander's Comedies .
MENANDER'S SAMIA AND PERFORMANCE - (M.) Wright Menander: Samia. Pp. viii + 166, ills. London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. Paper, £17.99, US$24.95 (Cased, £55, US$75). ISBN: 978-1-350-12476-9 (978-1-350-12477-6 hbk)
Classical Review, Nov 5, 2021
Theophrastus introduces a new theme, which certainly broadens the horizon of the research of the ... more Theophrastus introduces a new theme, which certainly broadens the horizon of the research of the Peripatos, but his approach is consistent with the Aristotelian scientific method. Usually, as a proof of Theophrastus’ (alleged) disloyalty to Aristotle, the so-called Metaphysics is mentioned: yet, as L. Repici has persuasively shown (Teofrasto: Metafisica [2013], especially pp. 9–46), it is difficult to consider this Theophrastean work as a document of anti-Aristotelian positions. Rather, it is a work focusing on aporia, which is a fundamental tool of dialectical investigation and a research method already theorised and widely employed by Aristotle. Theophrastus’ polemical target is rather the late Plato of the doctrine of principles and the Academic philosophers (Speusippus and Xenocrates: cf. G. Wöhrle, Theophrast von Eresos: Universalwissenschaftler im Kreis des Aristoteles und Begründer der wissenschaftlichen Botanik. Eine Einführung [2019], pp. 27 and 68–70). Finally, a mere suggestion and a line of enquiry: as in the Metaphysics (see e.g. 4a13, 4b8: εὐλογώτερον, 6b21: εὐλόγως), in the De odoribus (see e.g. 52: εὔλογον, 61: in the latter case I would not translate the adverb εὐλόγως as ‘obviously’, as S., p. 55, does) the occurrences of words related to εὔλογος / εὔλογον are interesting. From Diogenes Laërtius (4.29) we know that Arcesilaus was a pupil of Theophrastus; it is well known that the practical ‘criterion’ of εὔλογον plays a central role in Arcesilaus’ philosophy, and usually the interpreters (cf. e.g. A.M. Ioppolo, Opinione e scienza: il dibattito tra Stoici e Accademici nel III e nel II secolo a.C. [1986], pp. 128–9) rightly refer it back to Aristotle and the Stoics. I believe that a comprehensive survey of the occurrences of εὔλογος / εὐλόγως in Theophrastus’ works could be fruitful in order to verify if it is possible to assume some influence of the Peripatetic philosopher on Arcesilaus regarding the use of this terminology.
Arising out of a conference on ‘Eros in Ancient Greece’, the articles in this volume share a hist... more Arising out of a conference on ‘Eros in Ancient Greece’, the articles in this volume share a historicizing approach to the conventions and expectations of eros in the context of the polis, in the Archaic and Classical periods of ancient Greece. The articles focus on (post-Homeric) Archaic and Classical poetic genres – namely lyric poetry, tragedy, and comedy – and some philosophical texts by Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle. They pursue a variety of issues, including: the connection between homosexual eros and politics; sexual practices that fell outside societal norms (aristocratic homosexuality, chastity); the roles of sophrosyne (self-control) and akrasia (incontinence) in erotic relationships; and the connection between eros and other socially important emotions such as charis, philia, and storge. The exploration of such issues from a variety of standpoints, and through a range of texts, allows us to place eros as an emotion in its socio-political context.
The thesis explores the way in which character is represented in Menander's comedies and in the r... more The thesis explores the way in which character is represented in Menander's comedies and in the revival, translation, and reception of Menandrean comedy in the modern Greek theatre. Although modern translators and directors may have sought to reproduce the ancient dramas faithfully, they inevitably reshaped and reinterpreted them to conform to audience expectations and the new cultural context. Comparing aspects of character in Part I CHAPTER 1: The Conceptual World of Menander's Comedies .
W. PUCHNER assisted by A.W. WHITE Greek Theatre Between Antiquity and Independence: A History of Reinvention from the Third Century BC to 1830. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. xvii + 355. £99.99. 9781107059474
The Journal of Hellenic Studies
(A.K.) Petrides Menander, New Comedy and the Visual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. xii + 322. £65. 9781107068438
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2016
Review of A. Petrides-Menander, New Comedy and the visual-JHS 136 (2016)
Book Reviews by STAVROULA KIRITSI
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Papers by STAVROULA KIRITSI
Book Reviews by STAVROULA KIRITSI
Books by STAVROULA KIRITSI